HOOVER, Ala. — Auburn is ranked at No. 6 in the Top 25 rankings that were published on May 18 from D1Baseball.com, and Texas A&M is at No. 10. The Tigers played like the higher seed.
Right-handed pitcher Andreas Alvarez built one of his best performances of the season — 9 strikeouts across five-plus innings, just one hit allowed — and the Auburn offense erupted for five runs in the first two innings to send No. 3 seed Texas A&M home one-and-done with a 7-0 elimination in the Hoover Met’s nightcap. Closer LJ Cormier picked up the save.
The No. 6-seeded Tigers (38-18) advance to Saturday’s 4:30 p.m. ET SEC Tournament semifinal against No. 7 seed Arkansas. The No. 3 seed Texas A&M Aggies (39-14) — 2026 SEC East champions with a projected top-eight national seed and a likely NCAA Regional host bid — go home one-and-done in their opening SEC Tournament game.
The Tigers did not hesitate to get on the board early on Friday night. Left fielder Bub Terrell cracked an RBI double to right-center field in the top of the first inning, scoring Ethin Bingaman to jump out to a 1-0 lead.
Do it with two! ✌️@BubTerrell rips one to right center! pic.twitter.com/VS8n7bdugE
— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) May 23, 2026
Auburn’s offense kept rolling in the top of the second inning. Mason McCraine drilled a solo home run over the center field wall — 422 feet, his sixth of the year — to extend the lead to 2-0.
Swing and a drive! @mccraine_mason flexes his muscle! ? pic.twitter.com/lKG0ycKUB9
— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) May 23, 2026
A few moments later, Chase Fralick smacked a two-run double to left-center field, scoring Taylor Belza and Bristol Carter to jump out to a 4-0 lead.
Comin' out swingin' ?@chase_fralick doubles the early lead! pic.twitter.com/1BzRKSFLvv
— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) May 23, 2026
Eric Guevara kept the offense rolling for Auburn shortly after, banging an RBI single to right-center field, scoring Fralick to make it 5-0.
https://x.com/AuburnBaseball/status/2058006083042496703
In the top of the sixth inning, second baseman Chris Rembert joined the RBI parade with a double to right field, scoring Carter to scorch the scoreboard at 6-0.
https://x.com/AuburnBaseball/status/2058024410515202540
Bingaman capped the scoring in the seventh with a leadoff solo home run to left field — a 412-foot blast that traveled to the parking lot beyond the Hoover Met. Auburn 7, Texas A&M 0.
Alvarez and the Auburn shutout machine
The Tigers got the start they came to Hoover hoping for. Andreas Alvarez (9-3) — the right-handed sophomore who has been part of the deep Auburn rotation Butch Thompson built across the year — was as sharp as he has been in any SEC start. The final line: 5.0+ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 9 K.
Alvarez recorded nine of his outs via strikeout. He held the Texas A&M lineup — first in the SEC in team ERA and WHIP entering the tournament, and stocked with All-SEC bats including 2026 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Gavin Grahovac (.378, 17 HR, 60 RBI), All-SEC First Team OF Caden Sorrell, and All-SEC Second Team 2B Chris Hacopian — to one hit through the first four innings.
The fish freshman picked up his 50th strikeout of the season on his fourth K of the night, an in-season milestone that aligns with the broader pattern: Auburn pitching, top to bottom, has been the spine of the team this year.
In four total matchups against Auburn this year, Texas A&M has allowed 33 total runs for an average of more than eight per game. The Aggies, who have not been shut out all season — their closest result was an 11-1 loss to UCLA in the regular season — got their goose egg in Hoover.
LJ Cormier picked up the save — his second of the season. The Aggies’ best look at LJ Cormier and the Auburn back end came in the late innings, when shortstop Boston Kellner drew a one-out walk and Grahovac grounded into an inning-ending double play.
The Aggies’ lineup goes silent
Texas A&M (39-14) was projected entering Friday as a top-eight national seed and a likely NCAA Regional host. The 7-0 shutout in Hoover left some doubt for the selection committee, but it does not change the Aggies’ fundamental profile.
What it does change: the conversation about the Aggies’ pitching staff entering regional play.
Ethan Darden (4-3) was charged with the loss after allowing four earned runs on five hits in 1.0 inning pitched as the starter. The redshirt freshman left-hander was pulled after the second-inning four-run inning that turned the game decisively. Gavin Lyons followed in long relief and tossed 4.0 innings, allowing just one earned run with five strikeouts — including the strikeout that marked his 50th of the season.
Shane Sdao, Weston Moss, and Clayton Freshcorn made appearances out of the bullpen to combine for the final 4.0 innings. Sdao punched out three; Moss fanned one. Freshcorn tossed a clean eighth inning, inducing three flyouts.
Despite the loss, Texas A&M still leads Auburn 22-18 in the all-time series. The Aggies will await Monday’s NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament selection show at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2 for their seeding fate.
The Aggies’ offensive night was uncharacteristic: two hits, no runs, the star-studded duo of Sorrell and Grahovac combining for 1-for-8 with Sorrell’s lone single representing one of the two Aggie hits. Junior catcher Bear Harrison extended his on-base streak to 28 games via a hit-by-pitch — his 31st of the year, tying him with Blake Allemand for fifth-most all-time in Texas A&M baseball program history. Blake Binderup extended his on-base streak to nine games. Sorrell extended his hitting streak to seven games.
But by the time the Tigers had stretched the lead to 7-0 in the seventh, the Aggies’ Reddit game thread had moved from cautious optimism to gallows humor.
“GG Auburn, run it out,” one Aggie fan posted on r/CollegeBaseball as the seventh inning closed. Another, on the Aggies’ inability to score: “2 hits, 0 runs. Just utterly impotent tonight.” A third, on the broader feel: “Real tourney starts next weekend. At least that’s my cope.”
The Aggies’ staff — fronted by All-SEC starters Mason Howell and Cameron Tilly along with reliever Hunter Brewer — was held back for the regional next week, much in the same approach Texas’s Jim Schlossnagle ran one game earlier across town in Texas’s 8-1 elimination by Arkansas. Three SEC Tournaments in a row, two coaches pitching off for the regional. Two SEC Tournaments, two losses by the higher seed.
What Auburn brings to Saturday
Butch Thompson, Auburn’s head coach since 2016, is now 6-11 in SEC Tournaments across nine appearances. He has won at least 17 SEC games in four of the last five seasons. Friday’s win extends a quiet program signature: when Auburn shows up to Hoover with arms ready, the Tigers find ways through bracket weekends.
The Tigers’ pitching depth is the story. Auburn used just five pitchers across Wednesday and Friday combined — Jake Marciano and Jackson Sanders went the distance Wednesday in the 3-1 elimination of defending national champion LSU; Alvarez and Cormier carried Friday. The rotation depth that head-to-head Texas A&M could not match across four 2026 meetings now sets up favorably for a Saturday game against an Arkansas team that used its bullpen heavily on Friday.
The two teams split their regular-season series in 2026: Arkansas won 2-1 in Fayetteville in April, Auburn took 2-1 at home in May.
“It’s actually the greatest relief ever,” Marciano said in his Wednesday postgame of handing the ball to Sanders. “I know having whoever comes in, especially Jackson, that they’re gonna get the job done. Having the best pitching staff in the country is really, really great.”
Through three SEC Tournament games, Auburn has held LSU and Texas A&M to a combined four runs across 18 innings.
The grind
The Hoover Met crowd Friday night was the kind Butch Thompson described in his Wednesday postgame as “top-five ever” across his 25 years at three programs. Arkansas fans filled half the lower bowl ahead of Saturday’s semifinal. The Auburn contingent filled the other half, and by the seventh inning of Friday’s nightcap, “Here we go Auburn, here we go” was the dominant chant.
Even Texas fans, eliminated three hours earlier and still watching out of regional-bracket interest, weighed in on Reddit. “Definitely not rooting for A&M but can the auburn contingent chant literally anything but ‘here we go auburn here we go’?” one Longhorn fan posted on r/CollegeBaseball during the eighth inning. The Aggies fans, sitting at 0-7 in the box score, agreed with the request for silence.
Then Saturday came.
What’s next
The Auburn Tigers face No. 7 seed Arkansas in Saturday’s SEC Tournament semifinal at 4:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. (See our Saturday semifinals guide for the full preview, including a deep “Who to Cheer For” breakdown of all four remaining teams.)
The Tigers and the Razorbacks split their regular-season series — Arkansas took 2-1 in Fayetteville in April, Auburn took 2-1 at home in May. Both come into Saturday’s semifinal off bullpen-managed Friday wins. Both have rotation depth still in reserve for Sunday’s championship game (2 p.m. ET on ABC) if they advance.
The winner of Saturday’s two semifinals meets Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on ABC for the SEC Tournament championship and the trophy that has now eluded both the Georgia Bulldogs (0 SEC titles all-time) and the Auburn Tigers (0 SEC titles since the 1990s) for very different reasons. For Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, or Florida — and one of them will lift it — Sunday is the kind of weekend that makes Memorial Day in Hoover what it is.
By the Numbers
Score: Auburn 7, Texas A&M 0 (FINAL)
Hits: Auburn 11, Texas A&M 2
Errors: Auburn 0, Texas A&M 1
Auburn now: 38-18 (17-13 SEC), advances to Saturday’s semifinal vs. Arkansas at 4:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network
Texas A&M now: 39-14 (18-12 SEC), eliminated; awaits Monday selection show as projected top-eight national seed
D1Baseball rankings (May 18): Auburn No. 6, Texas A&M No. 10
Auburn pitching: Andreas Alvarez (W, 9-3) 5.0+ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 9 K. LJ Cormier (S, 2) closed the door.
Texas A&M pitching: Ethan Darden (L, 4-3) 1.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Gavin Lyons 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Shane Sdao 3 K in relief. Weston Moss 1 K in relief. Clayton Freshcorn clean eighth (3 flyouts).
Auburn hitting leaders: Mason McCraine HR (6th, 422 ft) and infield single. Ethin Bingaman HR (412 ft), 2 R, BB, RBI. Chase Fralick 2B (2 RBI), 1 R. Eric Guevara 2 hits, 1 RBI. Chris Rembert 2B, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 1 HBP. Bristol Carter 2B, 1 single, 2 R. Bub Terrell 2B, 1 RBI.
Texas A&M hitting leaders: Caden Sorrell 1-for-4 (only Aggie hit). Bear Harrison 0-for-1, 2 BB, 1 HBP (extends on-base streak to 28 games, HBP No. 31 ties for 5th all-time in A&M history). Blake Binderup BB (extends on-base streak to 9 games). Ben Royo 1-for-4 (lone other Aggie hit).
Key moment: Mason McCraine’s leadoff home run in the top of the second to make it 2-0, immediately followed by Chase Fralick’s two-run double and Eric Guevara’s RBI single — five runs across the first two innings.
Big-picture note: Auburn has held its first two SEC Tournament opponents (LSU and Texas A&M) to a combined four runs across 18 innings. The Tigers’ rotation depth remains in reserve for a possible Sunday championship game.
For More on the 2026 SEC Tournament
- How to Watch: Saturday Semifinals (and Who to Cheer For)
- Game 12 Recap: Auburn 7, Texas A&M 0
- Game 10 Recap: Florida 13, Alabama 3 (8 inn., run rule)
- Game 9 Recap: Georgia 5, Mississippi State 3
- Game 8 Recap: Auburn 3, LSU 1
- Game 7 Recap: Arkansas 8, Tennessee 4
- Game 6 Recap: Florida 8, Vanderbilt 3
- Game 5 Recap: Mississippi State 12, Missouri 2 (7 inn.)
- Game 4 Recap: LSU 6, Oklahoma 2
- Game 3 Recap: Tennessee 11, South Carolina 6
- Game 2 Recap: Vanderbilt 8, Kentucky 5
- Game 1 Recap: Missouri 10, Ole Miss 8
- How to Watch: Friday Quarterfinals
- How to Watch: Original Tournament Preview
2026 SEC Baseball Tournament Schedule
All times Eastern.
Tuesday, May 19 — First Round (SEC Network)
Game 1: Missouri 10, Ole Miss 8
Game 2: Vanderbilt 8, Kentucky 5
Game 3: Tennessee 11, South Carolina 6
Game 4: LSU 6, Oklahoma 2
Wednesday, May 20 — Second Round (SEC Network)
Game 5: Mississippi State 12, Missouri 2 (7 inn.)
Game 6: Florida 8, Vanderbilt 3
Game 7: Arkansas 8, Tennessee 4
Game 8: Auburn 3, LSU 1
Thursday, May 21 — Quarterfinals (SEC Network)
Game 9: Georgia 5, Mississippi State 3
Game 10: Florida 13, Alabama 3 (8 inn., run rule)
Friday, May 22 — Quarterfinals (SEC Network)
Game 11: Arkansas 8, Texas 1
Game 12: Auburn 7, Texas A&M 0
Saturday, May 23 — Semifinals (SEC Network)
Game 13: No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 5 Florida — 1 p.m.
Game 14: No. 7 Arkansas vs. No. 6 Auburn — 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 24 — Championship (ABC)
Game 15: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14 — 2 p.m.
